I haven't seen the musical or read the book, but I have the book. Is the musical close to the book? And are the sequels as good? I really want to read it and see it, but I don't know of anywhere near where I live that would show it. I have a little bit of an idea what it's about, but not much.

The book is much darker. It's something I would never let my child under 16 or 17 read. There are some pretty graphic sex scenes. The ending is much sadder. The story in the book is not a fairy tale by any means. It will always change the way you look at the Wizard of Oz.

The play is much lighter. It very different but the extraordinary magnitude of the the play overshadows that. Normally I would have picked apart every detailed difference of the play and the book but I was in such aw of the beauty of it that I didn't even care. It was an amazing experience! We are going again next year. It was so good that my boyfriend even liked it... and he is not the musicals type.

The book is much darker. It's something I would never let my child under 16 or 17 read. There are some pretty graphic sex scenes. The ending is much sadder. The story in the book is not a fairy tale by any means. It will always change the way you look at the Wizard of Oz.

The play is much lighter. It very different but the extraordinary magnitude of the the play overshadows that. Normally I would have picked apart every detailed difference of the play and the book but I was in such aw of the beauty of it that I didn't even care. It was an amazing experience! We are going again next year. It was so good that my boyfriend even liked it... and he is not the musicals type.

Read the book. It won't disappoint.

^^Agree completely! The Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie as a kid...still is today! I Have read the books & they are much different than that of the stage.

It definitely does change your outlook on the way you view the Wizard of Oz....though it does answer the question of WHY "Elphaba" aka The Wicked Witch....was so wicked!

I have read the book, I loved the Wizard of Oz as a kid and I still love it today...I learned about the book while I was in the hospital from one of my really awesome nurses...I'm reading Son of a Witch right now which is the sequel to Wicked...its pretty good so far...Maguire is a really creative writer to think of these stories from the opposite perspective...I'm hoping to get Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister for Christmas...I'm also hoping to get tickets to Wicked which is playing in Detroit and Chicago (I live in Michigan so either one works for me) and I know its different from the book but I still think the general story will translate to the stage...I would've seen it sooner but being a completely broke college student things like that don't work out very often!